ACLU asks judge to block government from deporting reunited families for seven days

Here is everything you need to know about the Trump administration's zero-tolerance immigration enforcement policy.
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Francisco Antonio Antonio, 2, of Guatemala, places his hand on his father's lap while waiting to board their next bus after being released by the Department of Homeland Security on July 12, 2018, at a bus station in Phoenix.(Photo: Brian Munoz/The Republic)

More than 1,600 children separated from their parents at the border by the Trump administration are expected to be reunited by Thursday's court-ordered deadline, but now a battle is brewing over what should happen to them next.

The ACLU says that government is preparing to quickly deport hundreds of families immediately after their reunification.

In court briefs filed Wednesday, ACLU lawyers renewed arguments asking a federal judge to issue a stay blocking the government from deporting families for at least seven days.

The ACLU argues parents who haven't seen their children in months need time to consult with lawyers to figure out their legal options, including whether they should fight their deportation, be deported together or accept deportation but leave their child behind with relatives in the U.S. to pursue asylum on their own.

"The government took children, including babies, from their parents and did not return them for weeks and often months," the ACLU court filing said. "The government should not now be able to argue that it cannot wait a mere seven days to remove these families, so that they can be advised on their life-altering decisions."

Government lawyers, however, are fighting the move, arguing that a court-ordered stay on deporting reunited families would interfere with the government's authority to enforce immigration laws.

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Amalia Itzep-Lopez cries and hugs Kendra Harrison as Itzep-Lopez holds pictures of her children outside the CoreCivic Eloy Detention Center on July 6, 2018. In the background, Jessica Berg puts her arm around Juana Soch-tohom de Bulux who was also released by bond. Patrick Breen/The Republic

Amalia Itzep-Lopez cries with Kendra Harrison as Itzep-Lopez holds pictures of her children outside the CoreCivic Eloy Detention Center on July 6, 2018. In the background, Jessica Berg puts her arm around Juana Soch-tohom de Bulux who was also released by bond. Patrick Breen/The Republic

Juliana Manzanarez (left to right) sits with Amalia Itzep-Lopez and Juana Soch-tohom de Bulux inside an Olive Garden for their dinner in Eloy on July 6, 2018. Itzep-Lopez and Soch-tohom de Bulux were released on bond pending humanitarian relief. Patrick Breen/The Republic

Juliana Manzanarez (left to right) sits with Amalia Itzep-Lopez and Juana Soch-tohom de Bulux inside an Olive Garden for their dinner in Eloy on July 6, 2018. Itzep-Lopez and Soch-tohom de Bulux were released on bond pending humanitarian relief. Patrick Breen/The Republic

Amalia Itzep-Lopez (left) starts to cry as she thanks Jessica Berg who helped her leave the Eloy Detention Facility. The pair are making their drive back to see their children after being released on bond pending humanitarian relief. Patrick Breen/The Republic

Amalia Itzep-Lopez (left) thanks Jessica Berg who helped her leave the Eloy Detention Facility. The pair are driving back to see their children after being released on bond pending humanitarian relief. Patrick Breen/The Republic

In court filings arguing against the stay, government lawyers say that reunited parents have already had "adequate time to make a sound choice" regarding whether or not to reunify with their separated children.

Government lawyers also argue that parents who have chosen to reunify and then elect to leave the U.S. without their children are at odds with the court's order to bring separated families back together.

"Once the parent is identified, and has chosen using the Court-approved form to reunify with their child, requiring a parent to again choose whether to leave their child in the United States is inconsistent with this court's effort to return to the status quo and bring families back together," government lawyers wrote in a court filing.

During a status conference on Tuesday, Sabraw praised the government for being on track to meet his order and reunite 1,637 children approved by the government for reunification with their parents by Thursday's deadline.

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But he expressed concern about the 914 parents the government has deemed ineligible for reunification, including 127 who signed documents waiving their rights to reunification and 463 who may already have been deported without their children.

In court filings submitted Tuesday, ACLU lawyers attached documents from lawyers who have interviewed dozens of parents who said they were pressured by the government while in detention to sign papers waiving reunification without understanding what they were signing.

Sabraw gave government lawyers until noon Wednesday to provide more information about the 463 parents the government has concluded are no longer in the U.S. and may have been deported without their children.

"This could be, to be clear, the category where parents and children were separated either before or during the zero-tolerance policy and there wasn't infrastructure in place to determine at separate times where the parent was versus the child, which then resulted in a number of parents being removed without the child. Am I correct?" Sabraw asked during Tuesday's status conference.

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People wait in line to cross into the United States while migrants seeking asylum status wait to be called for an interview on Wednesday, June 20, 2018, at the DeConcini Port of Entry Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. Sean Logan/The Republic

Magali Nieto Romero, 33, of the state of Guerrero, sits with her children, Lesly, 5, and Jose, 12, on Wednesday, June 20, 2018, at the DeConcini Port of Entry in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. She has been waiting for an asylum interview with U.S. immigration officials for nine days. Sean Logan/The Republic

Guadalupe Arcos Avila, 34, of the state of Guerrero, sits with her son, Aldo Duvan, 4, on Wednesday, June 20, 2018, at the DeConcini Port of Entry in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. She has been waiting for an asylum interview with U.S. immigration officials for nine days. Sean Logan/The Republic

Nancy Gonzalez, 23, of Guatemala, sobs at the possibility of being separated from her daughter, Angie, 2, on Wednesday, June 20, 2018, in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. Francisco Alachea Martin, (right) a volunteer nurse, took Gonzalez, her sister, and their daughters to receive medical attention. Gonzalez arrived in Nogales on Tuesday to seek asylum. Sean Logan/The Republic

A baggage receipt from Customs and Border Protection lies on a table at Casa Alitas migrant shelter on Tuesday, June 26, 2018, in Tucson, Ariz. The shelter is one of two in Tucson where migrants stay after they have been released from detention. Sean Logan/The Republic

Erica Gomez Claudia, 21, of Guatemala, poses for a portrait while her daughter, Briani Fuentes Gomez, 2, sleeps on Tuesday, June 26, 2018, at Casa Alitas migrant shelter in Tucson, Ariz. Gomez Claudia left Guatemala after she was estranged from her family and men threatened to rape her. Sean Logan/The Republic

Franklyn Pope Lopez, 4, lies on the floor while his mother, Juana Mari Lopez Juarez, of Guatemala, cleans dishes on Tuesday, June 26, 2018, at Casa Alitas migrant shelter in Tucson, Ariz. Lopez Juarez arrived in Tucson on Friday and is going to San Francisco, where her sister lives. Sean Logan/The Republic

Damaris Romero Cartagena, 21, of Honduras, leaves Casa Alitas migrant shelter with her son to take a bus to Chicago on Tuesday, June 26, 2018, in Tucson, Ariz. The shelter is one of two in Tucson where migrants stay after they have been released from detention. Sean Logan/The Republic

Erica Gomez Claudia, 21, of Guatemala, looks out the window at Casa Alitas migrant shelter as other migrants leave to travel to California and Illinois on Tuesday, June 26, 2018, in Tucson, Ariz. Gomez Claudia left Guatemala after she was estranged from her family and men threatened to rape her. Sean Logan/The Republic

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"It could be your honor," responded Sarah Fabian, a lawyer for the government.

After Tuesday's status conference, ACLU lawyers accused the government of intentionally withholding information about the 914 families deemed ineligible for reunification.

"The Trump administration's lack of transparency is now bordering on stonewalling," Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU's Immigrants' Rights Project, said in a statement. "And no one should forget that the government's claim that it will meet the reunification deadline is based on its exclusion of parents it has deported or can't locate, as well as on its unilateral, unchecked decision of who is eligible to be reunited or not."

Sabraw scheduled the next status conference with lawyers from the ACLU and the government for Friday.